Top Events of the Week // September 28 – October 5, 2018

The Surfers Paradise skyline will explode with colour when the Jewel International Kite Festival comes to town, with locals and holiday makers alike in for a treat when they head to Surfers’ beachfront. See the hundreds of colourful kites and enjoy the fun festivities on offer at the inaugural event, which is perfect for both professional and novice kite flyers and kite makers. The event will be the ultimate showcase of high-flying skill and amazing handmade creations, with plenty of colour and action both in the sky and on the ground with a host of activities and workshops on throughout the day, including make-your-own sky-high creation, master kite displays, fun tie-dye workshops, food stalls and more – all just a few minutes’ walk south along the beach from Northcliffe SLSC, between Surfers and Broadbeach.

COMMUNITY COASTAL TOURFriday September 28 from 8.30am ’til 1pm // Main Beach to Point Danger

The Griffith Centre for Coastal Management are offering a guided bus tour for locals to some of the Gold Coast coastline’s most significant historical spots. The interactive tour will run for around 4.5 hours and include a number of stops along the entire stretch of the coast, with morning tea provided. Limited spaces are available, and bookings required.

Get ready to LOL at this super charged line-up of comedy talent from funny pants kids. Featuring Randy Feltface, the amazing purple puppet comedian, Madame Lark and Chores, the side-splittingly funny show is packed with music, comedy, adventure and magic.

Are your kids Fortnite mad? They can enjoy the fun of Fortnite away from a screen at Epic Skate Rink, when they come dressed up in their favourite Fortnite getup for an epic night of prizes, dance competitions and, of course, epic skating! Head to the website for more details, including pricing.

CHILDREN ARE STINKYFriday September 28 thru to Sunday September 30 at 10am & 12.45pm // HOTA, Surfers Paradise

Join this acrobatic duo on their mission to prove that kids STINK, in a performance packed with riotous daredevil stunts and raucous laugh out loud moments. Expect jaw-dropping circus, a slamming 90s soundtrack, lighting fast hula hoops and loads of laughs and fun. Oh, and an audience filled with stinky children, of course!

Kids are taking over at HOTA! In the Boxwars Kids Workshop, kids can learn the basics of cardboard engineering and create their own battle costume for the epic ‘Surfers vs Sharks’ Boxwars Battle on Sunday September 30! The beach and sea creature theme will put their craftiness and creativity to the test – using nothing but cardboard.

SURFERS PARADISE KIDS WEEK // THE GOOD DINOSAUR SPECIAL SCREENINGSaturday September 29 at 6.30pm // Circle on Cavill, Surfers Paradise

Enjoy a very special screening of The Good Dinosaur under the stars on Circle on Cavill’s grassy surrounds. With plenty of plush, cosy bean bags to sink into and stalls offering free buttery popcorn, fairy-floss and snow-cones, it’s sure to be an unbeatable movie night.

Sunsuper Riverfire Celebrating the end of three weeks of Queensland’s largest arts and cultural event, Sunsuper Riverfire is set to wrap up Brisbane Festival with a bang. Join the crowd from 4pm at Riverstage for the massive day-long concert and big-screen fireworks coverage. Spectators will be wowed by aerobatics and flypasts from the ADF, and delight in the soundtrack that celebrates Sci-Fi and superheroes.

Be swept away by the enchanting and intimate theatrical family-friendly experience, The Owl and the Pussycat. The all-new opera features stunning vocals, interactive theatre, and even a troupe of musical puffins – aboard a magical pea-green boat, this charming work explores universal themes of love, harmony and acceptance. Aww!

It’s the grubbiest two-day children’s festival around, where kids are let loose on a range of unstructured mud play activities (under the supervision of a parent or guardian, with a ratio of 1 adult to every 2 children) across five muddy realms – it’s minimum structure and maximum family fun!

It’s exactly what it says on the tin: a group of kids are given a crash course in hairdressing and then run a salon where they offer free haircuts. Put your vanity to the test, surrender your preconceptions (and your scalp) to the aesthetic choices of these mini-barbers. Spots are fully-booked, but you can still come along to see if there are any spots left on the day.

Enjoy making (and eating!) kids’ churros and a kids’ shake for just $20, which also includes a small coffee for mum and dad. Places are limited and are sure to fill up quick, so bookings are recommended – phone (07) 5570 6019 and just pay on the day. Check out the full program for tonnes of other fun food activities!

Let your kids unleash their inner Ninja on this fun-filled, Ninja Warrior-inspired obstacle course! Suitable for most fitness levels and abilities and kids aged 4 years and up, this event – hosted by Terrain Training – will make for a day out like no other.

In an Australian-first, you can get up close and personal with the creatures of Jurassic Park right here on the beach of Surfers Paradise! The roar-some Jurassic creatures and their rangers promise to captivate and delight in this entertaining and educational live show.

Mazes, terror tours and panic rooms, oh my! When darkness falls, Movie World transforms into the most scream-tasticly scary spot on the Gold Coast – VR experiences, petrifying precincts and more will have you screaming more than a turn on the Superman Escape.

The battle between the Surfers and the Sharks is on! Grab some gear and take part in an epic Boxwars battle on HOTA turf, as huge cardboard creations duke it out for superiority in an explosive family friendly festival of pointlessness. Prepare for the battle with the adult and kids’ workshops through the week, using nothing but cardboard.

Enjoy a free live circus show every day! Watch performers soar through the air on the trapeze, play with the crazy clowns and let the acrobats blow your mind with their extraordinary skills. Then, kids can enjoy free workshops to learn fun circus skills for themselves, like juggling, clowning and much more! Head to the website for more details.

Since 1949 the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers has flourished into the iconic Queensland event it is today. Set to top the 255,638 attendees of last year’s carnival, this year’s event will feature a floral parade, food & wine festival, Night Garden with stunning light displays, brunches and dinners, tours, park movie nights, sideshow alley, parkland entertainment, flowering parks and so much more.

Let your kids become mini farmers as they work doing farm chores; collecting and cleaning eggs, checking fences, feeding animals, clearing paddocks and so much more! They work alongside the farmers from Liberation Larder in the market garden, cook, create and see where their food comes from and experience countless opportunities to learn about teamwork, community, and ethical farming practices.

AP8 Fierce Females have partnered with City of Gold Coast to deliver free women’s self-defence workshops, transitioning young ladies into fierce young women who are fearless, independent, ethical, resilient, courageous and empowered. Come along to the female-led introduction to women’s self-defence, suitable for ages 13-16.

Is there such thing as too much craft?! Holidays are made for being creative and having FUN, which is exactly why the Craft Parlour are hosting their Kids Craft Day. Parents can go and enjoy some ‘me’ time, while their kids enjoy a fun-packed day of creative play, across rotation stations with different craft projects.

Kids will learn how to make a great vegetable pie by mixing, kneading and rolling their own pastry, then selecting ingredients from a range of vegetables and sauces to create their own yummy pie to take home. Plus, they can enjoy a second sweet fruit pie before heading home!

Keen for some free entertainment? Just bring your own chairs, cushions, blankets and enjoy a movie under the stars at The Pines. Plus, grab a meal deal to enjoy during the movie – options include Wendy’s hot chips, regular dog and small milkshake for $9, Crema Espresso takeaway soup of the day with crusty bread for $8.50, buy two sushi rolls and get the third free from Sushi 1 and more!

Daredevil stunts and killer special effects bring the world’s most deadly dinosaurs roaring back to life as award-winning wildlife presenter Steve Backshall goes on the hunt for the deadliest animals to have walked the earth: dinosaurs. Catch highlights of this immersive, action-packed and dramatic series in cinemas these school holidays only at EVENT Cinemas.

The City of Logan’s 16-day action-packed program brings together a monster-sized range of free and low-cost activities, which will be popping up in every corner of the city. Expect over 170 activities, including sport, adventure, art, culture, music, dance, entertainment, animals, nature, technology, robotics, stories, poetry and cooking – there’s something for everyone!

Westfield Garden City are going Old School Cool these School Holidays with a retro arcade and sneaker museum! Jump back into the 80s and 90s with everyone’s favourite arcade games, a gallery of retro and highly rare one-off sneakers and a very cool sneaker customisation station. Bookings are essential – head to the website for more info!

This exclusive multi-sensory experience transports visitors under the sea, engaging the senses of smell, sound, sight and touch with a pop-up made up of different rooms – the entry beach, rock pool room, kelp forest, jelly fish room, and whale watching room, complete with vision of whales playing while you wait to enjoy a special two-minute under the sea VR experience.

School holidays just got a bit more awesome with the ultimate Dreamworld experience – the new Brickman Awesome LEGO® brick exhibition – now open! The dedicated interactive display contains 39 exclusive LEGO® brick models, totalling more than 2 million bricks and clocking up over 5,000 hours of build-time.

The pop-up museum designed with sweet lovers in mind is in town, promising to make your childhood dreams come true with a huge grown-up ball pit, a fairy floss room, a sherbet-filled rainbow bridge, a ‘press for confetti’ button and so, so much more! It’s the ultimate sugar high for kids and adults alike.

This is one journey down the rabbit hole you won’t soon forget! Join Alice as she ventures to the world of a very White Rabbit, a Mad Hatter and the evil Queen of Hearts, but make sure you’re prepared for an adventure that gets curiouser and curiouser. Featuring all of your favourite characters, Alice is sure to be a hit for the whole family.

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